Garage door operator



Dec. 24, 1940. A. s. KROCKER GARAGE DOOR OPERATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 1, 1938 INVENTOR 4004/ 6, MPOtKA-Q AT ORNEY Patented Dec. 24, 1940 UNITED STATESYPATENT OFFICE GARAGE DOOR OPERATOR Adolf G. Krocker, Waco, Tex.

3 Claims.

This invention relates to garage door construction.

An object of this invention is to provide a strong and durable garage door construction, and operating mechanism therefor, having means which may be operated from a driver's seat of a car either approaching or leaving the garage, to open or close the garage door.

Another object of this invention is to provide a garage door pivoted within the garage on a horizontal pivot and normally in vertical position to close the garage, and adapted to be swung upwardly about said pivots to horizontal position for opening the garage, said garage door being provided with counter-balancing weights hidden in the hollow walls of the garage, the top portion of the door jamb being provided with shock absorbing bumpers adapted to be engaged by the door when the latter,. is ,either in closed vertical position or open.h0rizontal position, the side portions of the doorjamb. being further provided with vertical members adjustable inwardly toward each other to vary the width of the door opening for accommodating doors of somewhat varying widths. x

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a garage door of the character described, and means for opening or closing the garage door from the outside of the garage by drivers of cars either approaching or leaving the garage, said means including a handle which may be pulled to either open or close the door, the handle be ing mounted on a swivel so that it may be turned in various directions, whereby the same may be conveniently grasped by the driver when the car is either a little forward or a little back.

A further object of this invention is to provide garage door construction of the character described, which shall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and which shall be smooth and positive in operation, easy to operate and yet practical and efficient to a high degree in use.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplifled in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indi- 50 cated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possible illustrative embodiments of this invention,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational cross-sectional view 55 of garage door construction with opening and Application September 1, 1938, Serial No. 227,998

closing mechanism therefor, embodying the in- Referring now in detail to the drawings, l0

designates a garage provided with a door II and mechanism l2, embodying the invention for opening and closing the door from the drivers seat of an automobile either approaching or leaving the garage. The garage III has side walls l3;

and a front wall ll having a door opening l5. 7 At the door opening i5 is a door lamb l6.

The side walls I3 of the garage have outer wall portions l3a and inner wall portions l6, spaced from the outer wall portions by spaced upright beams is. Between a pair of adjacent upright beams H at each side wall I3, is a vertical compartment 20, comprising parallel walls 2| fixed to a pair of adjacent beams I9, and a wall 22 parallel to the outer wall portion IS. The walls 2| closer to the door opening I5 are formed with vertical slots 23, for the purpose hereinafter appearing.

Fixed to the underside and rear edge of the top portion of the door jamb l6, are elongated rubber strips or bumpers 24 and 25 serving as shock absorbers for the garage door 26 when the latter is moved to open or closed position, as will appear hereinafter.

Fixed to the rear edges of the vertical portions of the door lamb l6 are a plurality of screws 23, serving toadiustably attach to the door jamb, a pair of vertical strips 23, having horizontal slots 30 through which the screws 28' pass. It will now be understood that by loosening the screws 26, the strips 28 may be moved inwardly or outwardly to accommodate the width of the door 26.-

The door 26 is rectangular and may be of laminatedor multi-ply wood made in a single slab, or more than one piece held together by a pair of end cross-pieces 33, at the lower and upper ends of the door, and a pair of intermediate crosspieces 34 and 35 parallel to said end pleces33.

Fixed to the intermediate cross-pieces 34 and 35 ar a pair of similar, symmetrically disposed supporting brackets 36. Each bracket 36 comprises a portion 38 extending downwardly from the cross-piece 36 and disposed perpendicularly to the door' 26. Interconnecting the lower end of portion 38 with an end of the cross-piece 34, is an inclined portion 39, having an extension 46 passing through the slot 23 in the wall 2|, into the compartment 20. A brace 42 fixed to members 39 and 40 serves to strengthen the same. Portions 38 and 39 of the bracket are interconnected by a reinforcing/brace 43.

Extending from the lower end of portion 38 of one of the brackets, is an arm 45, disposed parallel to the door 26 and terminating somewhat short of the door opening l5. At the junction of the portions 38 and 39 of each bracket 36 are horizontal pivot openings to receive aligned horizontal pivot pins 41 on plates 48 fixed to the beams IS. The door 28 is thus mounted for pivotal rotation about the axis oi! pivot pins 41, said axis being located in back of the door opening and below the top of the door opening.

When the door is in horizontal open position in contact with the bumper 24, the arm 45 is in horizontal position. When the door is swungdownwardly to vertical closed position, the arm 45 is in downwardly extending vertical position.

The extensions 40 of the brackets 36 are formed with a plurality of openings 50, whereby to adjustably fix a counter-balancing weight 5| on each of said arms. Each counter-balancing weight SI has a diametric groove 52 to receive the extension, and acentral bolt 53 passes through the weight and through one of the openings 50. Attached to the lower end piece 33 is a cord 55 which may be grasped for pulling the door down to closed position.

Means is provided however for opening or closing the door 28 from the outside of the garage by a driver of a car either approaching or leaving the garage. To this end, there is fixed to the driveway in front of the garage, an upstanding post 6! having a vertical through opening 62, and an enlarged socket 63 at its upper end. The post BI is preferably aligned with one side of the garage, so as not to interfere with cars passing into and'out of the garage.

Extending through the opening 62 is a pipe 65 passing downwardly through the post and through the ground beneath the driveway 60, as at 61, and upwardly into the garage, as at 88, adjacent one side of the door lamb. The portion 68 of the pipe is fixed to one 0! the inner wall portions I. by a bracket 69. Fixed to the upper end of the pipe portion 58 is a support for a pulley ll.

Fixed within the socket 68 at the upper end of the post Si is a cylindrical socket member ll, open at the top and having a central opening communicating withpipe portion 65. Swivelled within the socket member I I, is a swivel member 12 having a bottom wall 13 contacting the bottom wall of the socket member 1|, a'cylindrical wall 14 contacting the inner'suriace oi. the cylindrical wall of the socket 1|, and an outwardly extending flange 15 at the upper end of the cylindrical wall 14. Extending upwardly from the bottom wall II of the swivel member I2 is a pipe portion 16, aligned with the pipe portion 65.

Pivoted to the flange I5 is a link 18, to the upper end of which there is pivotaliy connected a handle member 19. Extending through the pipes 55, 61 and 68 is a flexible cord, cable, chain or other flexible member 80, contacting the pulley I0 and connected at one end to the arm 45. The flexible member also passes through the pipe portion 16 and is connected at the other end to the link 18.

' It will now be understood that when the door 26 is in the open position illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, a pull on the handle I9 will cause the flexible member 80 to pull downwardly on the arm 45 to swing the door 26 downwardly to closed position. As the arm 45 swings downwardly from horizontal to vertical position, it will again pull the flexible member outwardly, so that one end thereof extends in a horizontal position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

When the door is in closed position, a pull on the handle 19 will swing the door upwardly to horizontal open position. As the door 26 moves up or down, it will strike the bumpers 24 or 25, which absorb the shock.

It will now be understood that the swivel member 12 may be swivelled about a vertical axis, so that the handle 19 may extend in a plurality of radial positions, whereby it maybe more easily grasped if the car is a little back or a little forward. I

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use. I

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In combination, a garage having a door opening, a door to cover said opening, a pair of horizontal, aligned pivots on opposite sides oi the door opening, located rearwardly of the door opening and below the upper end of the door opening, a pair of brackets fixed to opposite sides of the door and engaging said pivots, one of said brackets having an arm disposed parallel to the door and extending from one of said pivots toward the bottom end of the door, and means for moving said door from vertical position, closing said door opening, to horizontal open position. at the upper end of said door opening, said means comprising a vertical tubular member within said garage, located in the plane of said arm, the upper end of said tubular member being located below said pivots and between said pivots and door opening, and a flexible member extending through said tubular member, and connected to the outer end of said arm.

2. In combination, a garage having a door opening, a door to cover said opening, a pair of horizontal, aligned pivots onopposite sides of the door opening, located rearwardly of the door opening and below the upper end of the door opening, a pair of brackets fixed to opposite sides of the door and engaging said pivots, one of said brackets having anarm disposed parallel to the door and extending from one of said pivots toward the bottom end of the door, means for moving said door from vertical position, closing said door opening, to horizontal open position, at the upper end of said door opening, said means comprising a vertical tubular member within said garage, located in the plane of said arm, the upper end of said tubular member being located below said pivots and between said pivots and door opening, a flexible member extending through said tubular member, and connected to the outer end of said arm, and a pulley rotatably supported at the upper end of said tubular member, said flexible member being adapted to engage said pulley.

3. In combination with a garage having a front wall formed with a door opening, a door for said door opening, a pair of aligned, horizontal pivots located rearwardly of the door opening and below the upper end of said door opening, a door for said garage, a pair 0! brackets on said door, pivoted to said horizontal pivots, an upstanding post located in front of the garage, apipe passing downwardly through said post, beneath the driveway, and upwardly into the garage adjacent one side of the door opening, the upper end of the post being formed with a socket, a member swivelled within said socket and having an upstanding pipe aligned with the portion of the-pipe which passes through the post, a flexible member passing through the pipe in the post and beneaththe driveway and in the garage, and through the pipe portion of the swivelled member, an arm on one of said brackets, disposed parallel to the door and extending from one of said pivots toward the bottom end of the door, one end of the flexible member being connected to the outer end of said'arm, and a member pivoted to said swivelled member, and

connected to the other end or said flexible mem- 10 her. a

- ADOLF G. KROCKER. 

